The Impossible Planet
by ponylkb
Summary: The TARDIS lands on an alien planet shrouded in a darkness that even the Doctor can't figure out. Rose and Peter find themselves further away from home than ever before, on a space base positioned on a planet in the orbit of a black hole. Meanwhile, an unknown entity is awakening and beginning to cause chaos among the crew. Just what lies at the core of the impossible planet?
1. Chapter 1

The Tardis came to land in a small and cluttered storage cupboard, filled with metal containers piled up to the ceiling. But as it came to a halt the ship made a very odd crackling and groaning noise as the lights on the inside and on the police box sign flickered.

"I don't what's wrong though she seems sort of, queasy?" The Doctor said as he, Rose and Peter stepped out. "Indigestion like she didn't wanna land" He added.

"Well if you think that's going to be trouble we could always get back inside and go somewhere else" Rose replied before they all laughed simultaneously at the idea.

"I think we've landed inside a cupboard, here we go" The Doctor said as he spotted the large yellow industrial door out and led them over to it. Turning the wheel in the center of the door it swung open automatically.

"Open door fifteen" A female robot announcement said.  
"Some sort of base, moon base sea base they built these things out of kits" The Doctor explained as they stepped onto a metal paneled corridor where the sound of rushing wind could be heard coming from outside.

"Glad we're indoors sounds like a hell of a storm out there" Peter said as the Doctor led them over to another door. Through it was another paneled corridor with a raised grated metal walkway in the center of it.

"Human design, got a thing about kits, this place was put together like a flat pack wardrobe only bigger and easier" The Doctor said as they walked down the corridor and through another door.  
"Open door seventeen" The robotic announcement said as they stepped into a larger open area that looked like a kitchen and dinning area.  
"Oh it's a sanctuary base! Space age exploration we've gone way out" The Doctor said cheerfully as he looked around. "Listen to that underneath?" He then said as he came back over to Rose and Peter.

"Someone's drilling" Peter confirmed, feeling a slight vibration under his feet.

"Welcome to hell" Rose suddenly said as she saw the writing on the wall in front of her.

"Oh it's not that bad" The Doctor told her. Rose chuckled slightly.

"No over there" She said, pointing the writing out to them. On the wall were a series of strange symbols whilst above them someone had spray painted what must have been the translation in black paint.

"Hold on what does that say?" The Doctor asked seriously as he walked over to the writing and stared at the symbols. "That's weird it won't translate" He added as he crouched besides the wall whilst Rose and Peter came over and stood besides him.

"But doesn't the Tardis translate everything? Writing as well?" Peter asked.

"Yeah it does, I should be seeing English?" Rose added, turning to the Doctor.

"Exactly, but if that's not working then it means, this writing is old, very old, impossibly old" The Doctor replied as he stood back up. "We should find out who's in charge" He added as he walked over to the door next to the writing and began opening it. "We've gone beyond the reach of the Tardis's knowledge not a good move and if someone's looking for..." He began to say as they door open but stopped as they all jumped back and yelled at what they saw on the other side. It was a trio of bald faced squid like humanoids with slanted eyes and small tentacles dropping down from their noises. They were dressed in blue overalls whist they each carried a small frosted ball that was attached to their necks by a white wire. "Right! Hello! Sorry er, I was just saying er, nice base" The Doctor told them as he recovered himself whilst Rose and Peter stared open mouthed at them.

"We must feed" The lead creature said, it's frosted ball lighting up as it spoke.

"You gotta what?" The Doctor asked.

"We must feed" All of the creatures said simultaneously.

"Yeah I think they mean us" Peter said as they started backing away when the creatures started walking towards them. Turning to run they saw the other door two doors in the room open as more of the creatures came though.

"We must feed" They all said, chanting it. Surrounded by them as they walked towards them Peter drew out his gun and readied it to shoot whilst Rose picked up a nearby metal stool and held in front of her defensively as the Doctor took out the Sonic Screwdriver. Holding their defenses up in front of them they were backed up against the wall as the creatures approached them.  
"We must feed," The lead creature then told them as the others fell silent before it shook the ball is was carrying and tapped it as if it was malfunctioning. "You, if you are hungry" It then told them.

"Sorry?" The Doctor asked curiously as he lowered the Sonic slightly.

"We apologise electromagnetics have interfered with speech systems would you like some refreshments?" It asked as Peter cautiously lowered his gun whilst Rose put down the stool she'd been holding.

"Er..." The Doctor began to say.  
"Open door eighteen" The automated voice said as another door opened as two men and a woman, all dressed in combat gear and leather jackets with the younger man and woman carrying large machine guns, came in.

"What the hell!" The middle aged greying brown haired but tough looking man exclaimed when he saw the Doctor, Rose and Peter. "How did...?" He tried to asked as they came over as the creatures stood aside for them. "Capitan your not gonna believe this we've got people, out of nowhere! I mean real people! I mean, three living people just standing here right in front of me" The middle aged man said in shock as he spoke into a wrist communicator as he stood in front of them.

"Don't be stupid! That's impossible!" A man's voice replied as is came through the communication.

"I suggest telling them that" The middle aged man replied.

"But your sort of space base? You must have visitors now and then? It can't be that impossible?" Rose asked him.  
"You telling me you don't know where you are?" He asked back.

"No idea more fun that way" The Doctor replied with a grin.

"Sir this one's armed" The woman told the middle aged man, indicating Peter who had not yet put away his gun as he held it pointed to the floor.

"Oh come on your packing more heat them me" Peter said.

"You trained?" The middle aged man asked him.

"Rank of Lieutenant" He replied as he sheathed his gun as the man simply nodded.

"Stand by everyone buckle down we have incoming and it's a big one, quake point five in it's way" A woman announced over the speaker system. The middle aged man ran over and opened up one of the doors.

"Through here! Now! Quickly come on! Move!" He ordered sharply as he hurried them all, expect the creatures, through the door. Heading down a paneled corridor the base started shaking as steam burst out of pipes onto them. "Move it! Come on!" The middle aged man shouted at them when they didn't move quickly enough as sparks rained down on them. Making it to the other end and heading through another door they saw they were in a large control room with five people inside and a few of the creatures. They all stared at them in shock and disbelief as the Doctor, Rose and Peter stood in the center of the room whilst the middle aged man sent his two armed colleges off back the way they'd come as he shut the door again as the shaking temporarily stopped.

"Oh my god you meant it!" A bearded black man said to the middle aged man, his voice matching that of the captain's who'd spoken through the communicator earlier, as he stood with a middle aged blond woman and younger fair haired man at a control panel.

"People look at that! Real people!" A young pretty woman with curly blond hair said as she stood near them, catching Peter's eye as he smiled at her.  
"That's us hurray!" The Doctor said with a smile.

"Yeah definitely real" Rose added. "My name's Rose, Rose Tyler, this is Peter Argent and the Doctor" She then introduced them.  
"Come on! The oxygen must be offline we're hallucinating they can't be? No they're real!" A mixed raced man with shoulder length black hair asked as he stood up from his chair and came over to them.

"Come on people! We're in the middle of an alert! Danny strap up the quakes coming in! Impact in thirty seconds" The captain ordered as a siren went off to accompany the flashing yellow warning lights. Danny went back to his seat and belted himself in. "Sorry you three whoever you are just hold on tight" The captain told the Doctor, Rose and Peter.

"Hold on to what?" Rose asked.

"Anything I don't care just hold on" The captain replied as they went over to the door and wall where there were some metal bars they could grip. "Ood are we fixed?" The captain then asked the creatures.

"Your kindness in this emergency is much appreciated" The nearest Ood replied.  
"What's this planet called anyway?" The Doctor asked.

"Oh don't be stupid it hasn't got a name how could it have a name?" The older woman asked. "You really don't know do you?" She asked, seeing their blank faces.

"And impact!" The captain called as the quake hit with violence as the entire base shook.  
"Oh well that so bad..." The Doctor began to say as a brief recesses came in the trembling as he stood up. But a moment later he was thrown back as the actual quake hit, the first one having only been a warning tremor. Flames exploded on the control panel next to the younger woman and sparks blew out of it dangerously close to her as she sat on a nearby chair.  
"Scooti get away from there!" The captain ordered among the chaos as steam pipes started to burst all around them.

"I can't! I'm stuck!" She called back, struggling with the belt keeping her in her seat, as a shower of sparks fell over her, making her yell in fright. Peter risked letting go of the bar he'd been holding onto and raced over to her as he broke the strap trapping her and pulled her away, holding her steady as the shaking continued. A sudden jerk, however, sent the pair tumbling to the floor with Peter ending up crashing onto his back as Scooti fell on top of him just as the quake finally came to halt.

"Ok that's it everyone all right?" The captain called out as the middle aged man came over with a fire extinguisher to put of the flames on the control panel. "Speak to me! Ida?" He called out to the older woman.  
"Yeah yeah" She confirmed.

"Danny?" The captain called out.

"Fine" He replied.

"Toby?" The captain asked the fair haired man.

"Yeah fine" He replied.  
"Jefferson?" The captain called the middle aged man.  
"Check" He called back.

"Scooti?" The captain then called over to where Scooti was still lying on top of Peter.  
"No damage" She said with a smile as she looked down at Peter as he smiled back. "Thanks" She told him as she climbed off and knelt besides him so he could prop himself up on his elbows.

"No problem" He replied.  
"We're fine thanks fine yeah don't worry about us" The Doctor said as he as Rose sat up.

"Surface had caved in I deflected it onto storage five through eight we've lost them completely" The captain said, looking at his screens. "Toby go and check the rocket link" He then instructed.

"But that's not my department" Toby complained.  
"Just do as I say yeah?" The captain told him. Toby almost glared at him for a moment before sighing and walking off past the Doctor and Rose and through the door behind them whilst the rest of the crew started checking all the systems.

"Oxygen holding internal rotor fifty six point six we should be ok" Ida said as everything quietened down again so that the high winds outside could be heard.

"Never mind the earthquake that's a, a hell of a storm out there" Peter said, still lying on the floor next to Scooti. "What is that? A hurricane?" He asked Scooti.

"You need an atmosphere for a hurricane, there's no air out there it's complete vacuum" She replied.

"Then what's shaking the roof?" He asked.

"Your not joking, you really don't know?" Ida asked. "Well introductions, FYI as they said in the olden days, I'm Ida Scott science officer" She introduced herself. "Zachary Cross Flane acting captain, sir" She said, pointing at the captain. "You've met Mr Jefferson he's head of security, Danny Bartock ethics committee" She then introduced.

"Not as boring as it sounds" Danny told the Doctor, Rose and Peter.

"And that man who just left that was Toby Zed archeology" Ida then said. "And this is Scooti Manista trainee maintenance" She added with a smile at Scooti as she turned back to Peter.

"Hi Peter Argent" He said with a broad grin as he held out his hand.

"Nice to meet you" She said as she shook it. "Need some help getting up?" She joked, noticing he was still led on the floor. Peter gave a chuckle.  
"I got it" He said as he began picking himself up as Scooti also stood up. As he started to stand up, however, a shot of pain ran up his left side, making him wince and clutch it for a moment.

"Hey you ok?" The Doctor asked as he and Rose came over.

"Yeah fell on my gun" Peter winced as he lifted up the side of shirt where he could see a small gash and a forming large black bruise where his gun in it's belt sheath had dug into his side as he'd fallen.  
"There's a dressing table over here, I'll give you a hand" Scooti offered, resting a hand on his arm, as she indicating a medical area over in the corner of the room.  
"It'll probably have already healed by the time you get over there" The Doctor half joked, knowing Peter's wolf side gave him heightened healing abilities. Peter was about to agree but stopped as he looked back to Scooti.

"Yeah well, I'll still get it looked at, might be worse than it looks" He replied casually before walking off with her, leaving the Doctor and Rose slightly surprised but amused at his sudden interest in Scooti.

"So where are we?" The Doctor then asked Ida. Ida walked over to a small box on the wall and rested a hand on the lever attached to it.

"This is home" She said as she pulled down on it.

"Brace yourselves the sight of it sends some people mad" Zachary told them. The metal shields on the roof above to reveal a viewing glass that gave a view of the space upwards of them. Fiery light was burning in the black sky in a circular shape as space debris and rock was pulled towards it. Even someone who'd never see such a thing would have recognised it.

"That's a black hole" Rose said in astonishment.


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor was staring at the black hole with a mixed look of horror and disbelief of his face.

"But that's impossible" He said quietly.

"I did warn you" Zachary said.  
"So we're standing under a black hole?" Peter asked as he stared at from where he was sat on the medical bench as he held up the side of his shirt to allow Scooti to clean and bandage his cut.

"In orbit" Ida told them.  
"But we can't be" The Doctor said.  
"You can see for yourself we're in orbit" Ida said.  
"But we can't be" The Doctor told her, turning to face her.

"This lump of rock is suspended in perpetual geostationary orbit around that black hole without falling in, discuss?" She offered.

"And that's bad yeah?" Rose asked the Doctor.

"Bad doesn't cover it, black holes are a dead star it collapses in on itself in and in and in until the matters so dense and tight it starts to pull everything else in too, nothing in the universe can escape it, light, gravity, time nothing, just gets pulled inside and crushed" He explained.  
"So we can't be in orbit then? We should be pulled right in" Peter questioned as Scooti finished her treatment and allowed him to stand back up.

"We should be dead" The Doctor confirmed.

"And yet here we are beyond the laws of physics, welcome on board" Ida said.

"But if there's no atmosphere out there what's that?" Peter asked, pointing to the cloud like substance that could be seen drifting past.

"Stars breaking up, gas clouds, we have whole solar systems being ripped apart above our heads before falling into that thing" Ida replied.

"So a bit worse then a storm then?" Peter asked.

"Just a bit" Scooti replied. Just as another slight tremble was felt for a moment.

Toby stumbled slightly as he walked back down the corridors towards where the crew were with large scrolls of his research tucked under his arm.

"Toby" A hushed man's voice said. Toby stopped and looked around for the owner of the voice just as the lights momentarily flickered.

"Who's that? Danny?" He asked, looking around. After a few moments he decided he'd imagined he'd heard it and carried on his way.

"Close door one" The automated voice said as the door closed behind Toby as he reached the control room.

"The rocket links fine" He told Zachary as he came over, who was showing the Doctor, Rose and Peter along with the rest of the crew a 3D hologram of the black hole.

"That's the black hole officially designated K37Jem5" He said.  
"And in the scriptures of the Velteno this planet is called Krop Tor, the bitter pill, and the black hole is suppose to be a mighty demon that was tricked into devouring the planet only to spit it out cause it was poison" Ida explained.

"The bitter pill, I like that" Rose asked, turning to the Doctor.

"We are so far out, lost in the drifts of the universe, how did you even get here?" He asked Zachary.

"We flew in, you see" He said as he changed the hologram to show the planet a large gravity funnel coming out of it. "This planets generating a gravity field we don't know we've no idea but it's kept in constant balance against the black hole, and the field extends out there as a funnel, a distinct gravity funnel reaching out into clear space, that was our way in" He explained.

"You flew down that thing? Like a roller coaster?" Rose asked.

"By rights the ship should have been torn apart, we lost the captain which is what put me in charge" Zachary said grudgingly.

"Well your doing a good job" Ida encouraged.

"Yeah well needs must" Zachary said.

"But if that gravity funnel closes there's no way out" Danny said.

"We had fun speculating about that" Scooti added.

"Sounds like a blast" Peter jokingly told her.  
"But that field would take phenomenal amounts of power? It'd just blip off the scale? Can I?" The Doctor asked Ida, indicating the small hand held device in front of her.

"Sure help yourself" She said, handing it over. Just as an Ood walked over to where Rose and Peter were stood, carrying a tray with two cups on it.

"Your refreshments" It told them politely.

"Oh yeah thanks" Rose said as she and Peter took the cup.  
"Thanks, sorry I didn't catch your name?" Peter asked it.  
"We have no titles we are as one" It told him before walking off. Confused Peter turned back to Scooti.  
"Er, what are they called?" He asked.

"Oh come on where've you been living? Everyone's got one" Danny cut in from where he was stood a short distance away.  
"Well not us, so what are they?" Rose asked, also eager to know.  
"They're the Ood" Scooti replied.  
"The Ood?" Peter asked, the word sounding very odd to him.  
"The Ood" Scooti replied, smiling at his bewilderment.  
"Well that's Ood" Peter then joked.

"Very Ood" Scooti joked back as she, Danny, Peter and Rose laughed a little.  
"But handy, they work the mine shafts all the drilling and stuff, supervision and maintenance they're born for it, basic slave race" Danny explained as he came over to join them.

"You've got slaves?" Rose questioned.

"Don't start, she's like one of that lot, friends of the Ood" Scooti told Danny.  
"Well maybe I am yeah, since when do humans need slaves?" Rose replied.

"But the Ood offer themselves, if you don't give them orders they just pine away and die" Danny explained as one of the Ood came over to them.

"Seriously? You like being ordered about?" Rose asked it.

"It is all we crave" It replied.

"Why's that then?" Rose asked.  
"We have nothing else in life" It replied.

"Yeah well I used to think like that, long time ago" Rose told it quietly.  
"There we go! Do you see? To generate that gravity field and the funnel you'd need a power source with converting specifying atmosphere reflex of six to the power of six every six seconds" The Doctor explained once he'd done his calculations as everyone gathered round.

"That's all the sixes?" Peter asked.

"And it's impossible" The Doctor told him.  
"Took us two years to work that out?" Zachary said.  
"I'm very good" The Doctor said.  
"But that's why we're here, this power source is ten miles below through solid rock, point zero, we're drilling down to try and find it" Ida explained as the hologram showed the drill path down to the core of the planet.  
"It's giving off readings of over ninety stats on the blazen scope" Zachary said.  
"It could revolutionise modern sceince" Ida said.  
"We could use it to fuel the empire" Jefferson added.

"Or start a war" The Doctor said.

"It's buried beneath us, in the darkness, waiting" Toby said.  
"What's your job? Chef dramatist?" Rose asked him jokingly.

"Well whatever it is down there its not a natural phenomenon, this er, planet once supported life eons ago before the human race had even learned to walk" Toby replied.

"That lettering written on the wall? Did you do that?" Peter asked him. Toby nodded.

"I copied it from fragments we found unearthed from the drilling but I can't translate it" He replied.

"No, neither can I and that's saying something" The Doctor added.

"There was some form of civilisation, buried something, now it's reaching out, calling us in" Toby said.  
"Any you came?" The Doctor asked with a smile as he looked around the crew.

"How could we not?" Ida said as Zachary switched off the hologram.

"So when is comes right down to it why did you come here? Why did you do that? Why? I tell you why, because it was there, brilliant!" The Doctor told the crew. "Excuse me Zac wasn't it?" He then asked Zachary.

"That's me" He replied.

"Just stand there cause I'm gonna er, hug you, is that all right?" The Doctor asked him.  
"Suppose so" Zachary said, not really caring.  
"Here we go coming in" The Doctor said as he began hugging him. "Human beings you are amazing! Ha!" He said as he hugged him, the crew looking slightly confused whilst Rose and Peter grinned. "Thank you" The Doctor said as they parted.

"Not at all" Zachary replied.

"But apart from that your completely mad you should pack your bags get back on that ship and fly for your lives" The Doctor then told them all quickly.  
"You can talk, how the hell did you get here?" Ida asked.

"Oh I've got this er, this, ship, it's hard to explain, just sort of appears" The Doctor quickly explained.

"We can show you it's parked down the corridor from er, what's is called? Habitation area, three" Peter said, trying to remember the Tardis's location.

"You mean storage six?" Zachary asked.  
"It was a bit of a cupboard yeah" The Doctor replied. "Storage six but you said...?" He then began to say as he noticed the crew's worried faces. "You said, you said storage five to eight" He then said before suddenly running back through the door towards the Tardis as Rose and Peter followed him.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Rose shouted to him as she and Peter ran after him as the Doctor tore back towards the area they'd arrived in.

Reaching the cupboard door the Doctor tried to get it open desperately.

"Door sixteen out of commission" The automated voice told them.

"It can't be! It can't be!" The Doctor said through gritted teeth as he tried to open the door.  
"What's wrong? What is it?" Rose asked as the Doctor looked through the small window in the door.  
"Doctor the Tardis is in there what's happened?" Peter asked.

"The Tardis had gone" He replied quietly.

"Door sixteen out of commission" The automated voice told them again as the Doctor stepped away from the door.  
"The earthquake, this section collapsed" He told them.  
"But it's gotta be out there somewhere?" Peter asked as he looked out of the window.  
"Look down" The Doctor told him. Looking down Peter stepped back a moment later with a grim face as Rose looked out of the window too. Where the Tardis had been was now a huge gaping gorge that dropped miles down into the darkness.

Heading back to where the crew were they tried to ask for a rescue mission.

"The ground gave way my Tardis must have fallen down right into the heart of the planet but you've got robot drills heading in the same way" The Doctor told Zachary.

"We can't divert the drilling" He told him with a shrug.

"But I need my ship, it's all I've got literally the only thing" The Doctor pleaded with him.  
"Doctor we've only got the resources to dig one central shaft down to the power source and that's it, no diversions no distractions no exceptions, your machine is lost, all I do is offer you a lift if we ever get to leave this place and that is the end of it" Zachary replied before walking off.

"I'll er, but you on the duty roster, we need someone in the laundry" Ida told him, trying to make the best of the situation before walking off, leaving the Doctor, Rose and Peter alone as the crew drifted off to do their jobs.


	3. Chapter 3

Alone in the room, apart from the few Ood, a terrible silence fell over them.  
"I trapped you both here" The Doctor said to Rose and Peter as he came over and stood besides them.  
"No, don't worry about it" Peter said quietly just as another tremor shook the base. The Doctor looked back at his companions as they looked up at the black hole. Both of them were doing their best to hide their worries from him.

"Ok we're on a planet that should exist underneath a black hole with no way out, yeah perhaps we can start worrying" Rose said, putting a smile on before the Doctor gave her a hug as he looked to Peter who shrugged before looking back up at the black hole.

"Entering night shift" The automated voice called out across the base, though it made little difference to everyone within it as space was always dark. "Your chosen track for tonight's musician is Ravel's Bollero" The automated voice then said as a classical music track started playing. As Jefferson supervised the Ood who were drilling Scooti had gone out onto the planet's surface in a large orange spacesuit to make to repairs to parts of the base.

"All finished heading back inside" She said when she was done and began heading back to the airlock. Danny was checking in all the Ood as they finished their days work. Checking them off on a list. Toby was alone in his quarters examining fragments of the writing as he tried to translate it when the music suddenly cut off. Ignoring it, thinking it was just a fault, Toby carried on working.

"Toby" The hushed man's voice whispered. Turning around for a moment but seeing no one he turned back to his desk.

"I can see you" The voice said.  
"Danny! Is that you?" Toby asked irritably as he turned around again. "Its, its not funny all right? Dan?" He called out as he stood up and headed out of his room onto the corridor. "I'm trying work Daniel" He said looking down both ends of the corridor for him though saw no one. "If that's you can you just stop it" He said just as the light overhead flickered for a moment. Looking around for a moment he headed back into his room.

In the kitchen and dinning area of the base the Doctor, Rose and Peter were sat among the rest of the crew, with the exception of Zachary and Toby who were elsewhere, as they got some food. The Doctor was busy trying to figure out the writing on the wall whilst Rose and Peter sat down next to him.

"Danny check the temperature in the Ood habitation seems to be rising" Zachary asked over the speaker system before Danny stood up and left the room.

"Any luck?" Peter asked the Doctor, who'd been debating over the strange symbols and writing down in a small notebook. The Doctor mere shook his head, focusing on his research too much to answer properly. Peter sighed before standing up.

"I'm gonna get something to eat" He said, not really that hungry but wanted something to. Walking over to the kitchen area he looked over what was on offer.

"Help yourself just don't have the green or the blue" Scooti told him with a small laugh, indicating the pile trays she'd just taken one from.

"So what is good round here then?" He asked with a smile as he came over to where she was stood in front of kitchen serving windows where some Ood were stood on the other side.

"I say a bit of that," Scooti said pointing some kind of black beans as she nodded to the Ood to put on both their trays.  
"Would you like sauce with that?" The Ood asked them.

"Sure I'll have a go" Peter replied as it poured a bark brown liquid onto one of the tray's compartments.  
"Thanks" Peter told it.

"A pleasure to serve you sir" It replied with a bow.  
"Blimey give yourselves names and become the same species it's just like being back at home" Peter joked, his home life being surrounded by servants.  
"You have er...?" Scooti tried to ask, trying to find the right words.  
"Family servants, it's complicated I'm still not use to it myself" Peter replied with a shrug.

"I never asked, where's home?" Scooti asked.

"Oh, long way away, Vegeta its called, small planet, very similar to Earth" He replied.

"So your not human? But you look like one?" Scooti asked.

"You look Sayain" Peter told her with a shrug, causing them both to laugh.

"Well I'm always up for discovering new species, join me?" She asked him, indicating a spare table before heading over to it.

"Thanks again" Peter told the Ood as he began following Scooti over to the table.

"The beast and his armies shall rise from the pit to make war against god" It replied.

"I'm sorry?" Peter asked turning back, wondering if he'd hear it correctly. The Ood tapped it's communication ball.  
"Apologies, I said I hope you enjoy your meal" It told him.

"Yeah" Peter said quietly before walking away.

Zachary was stood alone in the control room supervising the drilling.

"Drill head now at point sixteen, drill head speed increasing" The computer told him as the hologram of the planet came up.

"Keep pressure at sixty" He told it before going over to a nearby control panel. Standing with his back to the hologram he failed to notice it change momentarily to a red horned beast that gave a small growl. Zachary heard this and turned back around. But all he saw was the planet hologram, it having come back on a moment earlier.

Danny was on his way to Ood habitation.

"Close door three" The automated voice said as he shut it.  
"Close door three" He repeated mockingly.

"He is awake" The automated voice then said.

"What did you say?" Danny asked it in shock.

"Close door three" It replied.

Toby was still looking over the ancient writings in his quarters.

"Toby" The hushed man's voice whispered. "Don't turn around" It told him as Toby started to look over his shoulder.

"Dan?" Toby quietly called, sounding scared. "That's not Dan" He realised as he began looking round again.

"Don't look at me" The voice ordered.

"Who, who are you?" Toby asked.

"I have so many names" The voice replied.

"If I could..." Toby began to say as he started to turn around again.  
"If you look at me you will die" The voice warned.

"No but who are you?" Toby asked.

"I'm behind you Toby I'm right behind you, don't look! Don't look at me!" The voice told him as he kept trying to look behind him. "One look and you will die" It warned as Toby began panicking. "I'm reaching out Toby I'm so close, don't look, oh I can touch you" It taunted. Toby spun round and looked.

"Oh your kidding!" He whispered as he saw the empty room. Regaining his breath he turning back to his work, looking down at the fragment of pottery he was holding. But where there had been writing on the surface a moment ago, now there was only black pottery. Feeling an odd tingling sensation in his hands Toby took off the work gloves he'd been wearing. They were perfectly normal. Or at least they were on top as when he turned them over Toby got a fright. The symbols that had been on the pottery were now on his palms. Standing up, looking at them in pure horror, Toby felt the same sensation in his face. "No!" He gasped as he scrambled for the small mirror in his desk. His face with covered in symbols too whilst his eyes were blood red. Suddenly seizing up Toby fell to his knees and then flat onto the floor.

The lights in the crew's dinning room flickered and dimmed, causing everyone to look up.  
"Zac is there a problem?" Ida asked over her wrist strap communicator.

"No more than usual, got the scarlet system burning up might be worth a look" Zachary's voice replied.

"You might wanna see this, moment in history" Ida told everyone, the Doctor, Rose and Peter in particular, as she walked over to the roof shield lever and pulled it down, opening the roof to the viewing glass. A red dust spiral was slowly swirling into the black hole, illuminating the room in a red glow. "There, on the edge" Ida pointed it out. "That red cloud, that use to be the scarlet system , home to the Pallushi, a mighty civilisation spanning a billion years, disappearing forever, their planets and suns consumed, ladies and gentlemen we have witnessed its passing" Ida said before going to shut the shields again.  
"Er no, could you leave it open? Just for a bit? I won't go mad, promise" The Doctor asked her.

"How would you know?" Ida asked. The Doctor merely smiled at her. "Jefferson sign off the airlock seals for me?" Ida then ordered as she left the lever and went out on of the doors as Jefferson nodded and left through another.

"I've seen films and things yeah, they say black holes are like gateways to another universe" Rose said to the Doctor quietly.  
"Not that one, it just eats" H replied.

"Long way from home" Rose then said. The Doctor looked at her for a moment.  
"Go that way," He said pointing in a direction of stars. "Turn right, keep going left for er, bout er, five hundred years and you'll reach the Earth" He told her. Rose then took her mobile out of her pocket.

"No signal, that's the first time we've gone out of range, mind you even if I could, what would I tell her?" She said before turning to the Doctor. "Can you build another Tardis?" She asked him half jokingly.

"They were grown not built, and with my home planet gone, we're kinda stuck" He replied. Rose's smile dropped before she turned to look at Peter, who was sat at another table talking quietly with Scooti.

"Well at least some of us are enjoying ourselves" She mouthed jokingly to the Doctor, not wanting to risk Peter hearing her. "It could be worse, this lot said they'd give us a lift" She then said aloud.

"Then what?" The Doctor asked her.

"I don't know, find a planet, get a job, live a life same as the rest of universe" She replied.

"I'll have to settle down, get a house or something, a proper house with, with doors and carpets, me living in a house! Now that, that is terrifying" The Doctor said, making it sound like it was the worse thing in the world as Rose laughed.

"You'd have to get a mortgage" She teased.

"No" The Doctor said, looking shocked.

"Oh yes!" Rose said.  
"I'm dying that is it I'm dying it is all over" The Doctor replied with a shake of his head.

"What about me I'd have to get one too" Rose told him. "I don't know it could, it could be the same one, we could, I don't know, share, or not, whatever" She added, getting slightly flustered.

"Anyway" The Doctor said.  
"We'll see" Rose added as they broke the awkwardness.

"I promised Jackie I'd always take you back home" He then told her.  
"Everyone leaves home I the end" Rose replied as she turned to him and gave him a small smile.  
"I promised Alexander too," He then mouthed, indicating Peter, who had his back to them as he talked to Scooti. "He needed to to go back, someday" He added, still mouthing.

"He chose to leave, so did I" Rose mouthed back.

"Not to end up stuck here" The Doctor said aloud.

"Yeah well stuck here with you's not so bad" Rose said, turning to look back up at the black hole.

"Yeah?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes" Rose told him. "I've got you, Peter's got Scooti" She then mouthed, causing the Doctor to smile.

"Scooti check the lock down?" Ida's voice then came over the speaker. Scooti sighed as she got up.

"I'll er, see you later?" She asked Peter, who'd also stood up.

"Yeah, sure" He said with a small smile. Scooti started walking off towards one of the doors but paused for a moment before turning back around and heading back to Peter. She gave him the briefest of kisses on the lips before turning back around and heading out of one of the doors. Peter watched her go before turning back where he saw the Doctor and Rose watching.

"What? It's not as if you weren't gossiping already" He told them, a smile on his face.  
"You heard us er," Rose said, blushing slightly.

"I hear things five miles off and you guys aren't the subtlest of people" He told them.

"Sorry," Rose apologised. Peter grinned broadly.

"Don't worry about it" He said with a shrug just as Rose's mobile started ringing. Answering it she held it to her ear.

"He is awake" A deep man's voice said. Rose instinctively threw it to the ground as the Doctor and Peter looked at her curiously. Suddenly another beeping rang out, coming from Peter's wrist communicator as it a soft light lit up around the control panel buttons, indicating a call.

"This wasn't working a moment ago?" He said suspiciously as he pressed the answer button.

"He is awake" The same deep voice said before the call cut off.

"Is that what...?" Peter began to ask Rose after a moment as she nodded fearfully.

Toby gasped as he woke up. Still covered on the symbols with blood red eyes he looked around at his surroundings.


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor, Rose and Peter had traveled down to the Ood habitation where Danny was stood working at a screen.

"Evening" The Doctor called as they came down the stairs to his level.  
"Only us" Rose added.

"The mysterious trio, how are you then? Settling in?" Danny asked, sounding bored.

"Yeah, sorry straight to business, the Ood er," The Doctor said, looking down at the next level were the Ood were sat on metal benches. "How do they communicate? I mean with each other?" He asked.

"Oh, just telepathy, there's a low level telepathic connecting them, not that it does them much good, they're basically a heard race, like cattle" Danny explained.  
"This telepathic field? Can it pick up messages?" The Doctor asked.

"Cause I was have dinner and one of the Ood said something, well odd" Peter added.

"Oh an odd Ood?" Danny asked, sounding only half surprised.

"Then Rose and me got something else on out er, communicators" Peter said, choosing his word carefully, giving the time period they were in.

"Well be fair, we've got whole star systems burning up all around us, there's all sorts of stray transmissions, probably nothing" Danny said as he picked up a chart and lent against a nearby railing as he read in. Looking up he saw they were still staring at him curiously. "Look if there was something wrong it would show, we monitor the telepathic field, it's the only way to look after them" He added, looking down at the Ood. "They're so stupid they don't even tell us when they're ill" He said.

"Monitor the field? That's this thing?" The Doctor asked, indicating the screen Danny had been stood at which showed a frequency reading, before walking over to it with Rose and Peter.  
"Yeah, like I said its low level telepathy, they only register basic five" Danny said casually.

"Well that's not basic five" The Doctor said as he, Rose and Peter saw it rise up to ten and carry on climbing. "Ten, twenty," The Doctor counted as the figure rose. Rose, however, had spotted a change in the Ood. They all simultaneously sat up straight and lifted up their heads. "They've gone up to basic thirty" The Doctor told Danny over his shoulder.

"But they can't" Danny replied, sounding shocked.

"Doctor the Ood" Rose said. The Doctor and Peter looked down at them just as all the Ood turned and sat looking up at them as Danny rushed over to the telepathic field monitor. "What does basic thirty mean?" Rose asked Danny.

"Well, it means that they're shouting, screaming inside their heads" He replied, glancing down at the Ood.

"Or something's shouting at them" The Doctor said quietly, looking down at them too.

"But where is it coming from? What is it saying?" Danny asked. "What did it say to you?" He asked Peter.

"Something about the beast and the pit" He replied.

"What about your communicators? What did they say?" Danny then asked him and Rose.

"He is awake" Rose replied.

"And you will worship him" The Ood suddenly said simultaneously.

"What the hell!" Danny exclaimed as they all turned to look at them.

"He is awake" The Doctor told the Ood.

"And you will worship him" They replied simultaneously.

"Worship who?" The Doctor asked. The Ood didn't reply but remained sat staring at them. "Who's talking to you? Who is it?" The Doctor then asked them.

Scooti walked through the doorway into Toby's room with a blue file in her hand.  
"Toby I've got your expenditure," She said but trailed off when she saw the room was empty. Dropping the file on his desk she paused for a moment as she looked at the many papers filled with the strange symbols.  
"Open door forty one" The automated voice said, making her look up. "Close door forty one" it said again.

"Forty one?" Scooti said quietly to herself before realising where the door led.  
"Close door forty" The automated voice said as she ran out of the room and up to door forty one before holding down a button on it's control panel.

"Computer did you open and close door forty one?" She asked it.

"Confirmed" It replied.

"But, that's the airlock why would you open the air lock? It's the night shift we're not allowed outside, has someone gone out?" She asked.

"Confirmed" It replied.

"But who was it?" Scooti asked.

"Cannot confirm" The computer replied.

"Ok," Scooti said, knowing she had to be logical with the machine. "But hold on I know, tell me who's spacesuit's been logged out?" She asked.  
"No spacesuit has been logged out" It replied.  
"But your not making any sense, you can't go outside without a..." Scooti began to say before she gave up and brought up her wrist communicator. "Zac I think with have a breakdown with door forty one it's saying someone's gone outside onto the planets surface, Zac?" She said into it. But her communicator frizzled for a moment before dying. "Zac?" She said before sighing frustratingly. "Computer trace fault" She said, pressing down on the door's control panel again.  
"There is no fault" It replied.

"Tell me who went through that door?" She asked it, getting irritated.

"He is awake" It replied.

"What?" Scooti asked quietly.

"He is awake" It repeated.

"What's that suppose to mean?" She asked after a moment.

"He bathes in the black sun" The computer told her just as it open the wall shields to reveal the window behind it. Looking out through it Scooti gasped at what she saw. Toby was stood on the planet's surface with his back to her, without his spacesuit on. After a moment he turned to face her, smiling broadly, and Scooti saw he had strange symbols all over his skin and blood red eyes.  
"Toby," She said quietly. "There's no air, there's no..." She trailed off as the shock sunk in. Toby then lifted up his arm towards her and indicated with his hand that she should come out too. Falling for his influence Scooti reached with her arm at him. "No! Stop it you can't Toby!" She suddenly shouted as she realised what he was trying to make her do. Toby's grin didn't falter as he clutched his held out hand up to slowly begin forming a fist. The window in front of Scooti, the only thing keeping her from the outside, started to crack and splinter. With a gasp she turned on her heel and ran for a door.  
"Open door forty!" She yelled to the computer. "Open door forty!" She yelled again, bashing against it when it failed to respond. "Open door forty! Open door forty!" She screamed in desperation as she looked to the breaking window. She let out one final scream as the window shattered before she was sucked out of the base.

The sudden loss of pressure in the base caused it to jerk and shudder. The Doctor, Rose and Peter where nearly thrown off their feet as they walked around the Ood, all of them now sitting down on their benches peacefully. Above them Danny was buffeted back as sparks spat out of the telepathic field monitor.  
"Emergency hull breech, emergency hull breech" The computers voice sounded.

"Which section?" Danny shouted into his wrist communicator.

In the control room Zachary was regaining his chair.  
"Everyone evacuate eleven to thirteen we've got a breech! The base is open! Repeat the base is open!" He ordered over the speaker system.

Jefferson and his guards were battling their way down a corridor as sparks and blasts of steam from burst pipes hit them as the whole base shook.

The Doctor, Rose, Peter and Danny had reached the dinning room but carried on through another door to a corridor where all the others were heading. "I can't contain the oxygen field we're gonna it!" Zachary shouted over the speakers.

"Come on! Keep moving!" Jefferson shouted as he held the door open for everyone as his guards and Ida came through just as the Doctor, Rose, Peter and Danny reached them through another door.  
"And you too sunshine!" Jefferson shouted as he pulled Toby through before shutting the door.

"Everyone all right? What happened? What was it?" The Doctor called as they all came together.

"Breech sealed, breech sealed" The computer confirmed.

"Hull breech, we were open to the elements, couple more minutes and we'd have been inspecting that black hole at close range" Jefferson replied breathlessly as everyone caught their breaths. Rose noticed Toby was still sat on the floor after being dragged through and bent down in front of him to help him up.

"That wasn't a quake what caused it?" The Doctor asked.

"We've lost sections eleven to thirteen, everyone all right?" Zachary's voice asked over the speakers.

"We've got everyone here except Scooti" Jefferson replied via his wrist communicator. "Scooti report?" He then said into it. "Scooti Manista that was an order report" He said when no response came.

"She's all right, I've picked up her biochip she's in habitation three, better go check if she's not responding she might be unconscious" Zachery's voice came through as everyone breathed out a sigh of relief, except Toby who was nervously looking over his hands, now free of the symbols. "How about that hey? We survived" Zachary added.

"Habitation three? Come on I don't often say this but I think we could all do with a drink, come on" Jefferson said as he began leading the crew down the corridor. Peter remained where he was but looked like he wanted to go and find Scooti too.  
"Go it's fine, make sure she's ok" The Doctor told him with a nod. Peter smiled in thanks before heading off after the crew. Toby had also remained behind, too much in shock to get up off the floor.

"What happened?" The Doctor asked him, bending down in front of him.  
"I, I don't know I, I was working and then I can't remember, all, all that noise the room was falling apart there was no air" He said in a panic.

"Come on up you get" Rose told him firmly but encouragingly as she helped him to his feet. "Come and have some protein one" She added, having also had some of the food on service by the Ood.

"Oh you've gone native" The Doctor told her as they all started walking toward habitation three.

"Oi don't knock it it's nice, protein one with just a dash of three" She replied.

Reaching habitation three they found the rest of the crew and Peter looking around frantically. "Peter? What is it?" Rose asked as she helped Toby onto a chair.

"Scooti's no where in sight, her biochip says she's here though" He replied, sounding worried.

"Zac we've got a problem, Scooti's still missing" Jefferson said into his wrist communicator.

"It say's habitation three" Zachary's voice replied.

"Yeah well that's I am and I'm tell you she's not here" Jefferson snapped back in worry. The Doctor, however, had looked up at the viewing window.

"I've found her" He said solemnly. Everyone looked to him and then upwards where they made a shocking and grim discovery.

"Oh god!" Rose gasped, her words muffled slightly as she placed her hand over her mouth in shock. Scooti's body was floating just above the window as it passed slowly towards the black hole.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry" The Doctor told her quietly. Rose risked a glance at Peter, who did not see her look as he watch Scooti. He looked in as much shock as the rest of them but, in all the death he'd seen, she'd never seen him with such a hard stare and as tense a jaw as he had now.

"Captain, report officer Scootori Manista P.K.D, deceased, forty three K two point one" Jefferson said quietly into his wrist communicator.

"She was twenty, twenty years old" Ida said before going over to the shield lever and pulled it down.  
"And how should man die better, than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his father and the temples of his gods" Jefferson said quietly as the shields began to close over the viewing window.

"Macaulay" Peter said quietly, recognising the poet's work, as he sat down on a nearby table without taking his eyes off the viewing window. The last they saw of Scooti before the shields blocked their view she was slowly drifting towards the black hole.


	5. Chapter 5

A terrible silence hung over the room, broken only by the sound of the drilling. But then that too faded away.

"It's stopped" Ida said quietly as the sound of something being turned off rang out.

"What was that? What was it?" Rose asked the Doctor.

"The drill" He told her.

"We've stopped drilling, we've made it, point zero" Ida said. The crew immediately began making preparations for this as they went off in their various direction. The Doctor, Rose and Peter paused for a moment, not knowing what to do until Peter gave a sigh and stood up.

"We best go help if we can" He said, though still looked affected by Scooti's sudden death.

"Hey, I'm er, sorry" Rose tentatively sympathised, resting a hand on his shoulder. Peter's hard stare and tense jaw returned.

"What for?" He asked her, sounding as though she had no right to give him any sympathy.

"For, you know, Scooti" Rose carefully replied.

"I barely knew her" Peter replied bluntly before shrugging off her hand and walking off to find the crew. After a moment Rose followed with the Doctor behind her.

The base had quickly become a hive of activity following the announcement.  
"All none essential Oods to be confined" Zachary ordered over the speakers.

"Capsule established, door systems functioning, the mind shaft is go, bring systems on line now" Ida, now dressed in an orange spacesuit, called from next to it as Ood carried in the necessary equipment. Rose and Peter were stood among the busy crew as the Doctor reappeared in a orange spacesuit.

"Reporting as a volunteer for the expeditionary force" He told Zachery.

"Doctor this is breaking every single protocol, we don't even know who you are" He replied.  
"Yeah but you trust me don't you?" The Doctor guessed. "And you can't let Ida go down there on her own, go on look me in the eye, yes you do I can see it, trust" He added.

"Is should be going down there" Zachary said.  
"The captain doesn't lead the mission he stays here, in charge" The Doctor replied.

"Not much good at it am I?" Zachary asked before giving a sigh and tuning back to the rest of the crew. "Positions we're going down in two, everyone positions!" He called out. As Rose and Peter came over to the Doctor.

"Oxygen nitro balance gravity, it's ages since I've worn one of these" He told his companions.

"I want that spacesuit back in one piece you got that" Rose told him.  
"Yes sir" The Doctor jokingly replied.

"Watch your back, there could be anything down there" Peter told him.

"Course, you be careful up here too, watch both backs?" He asked him as a subtle way of asking him to look after Rose. Peter merely nodded and smiled. The Doctor then began putting his helmet on.

"It's funny cause people back home think that space travel's gonna be all, whizzing about and teleports and anti-gravity," Rose said as the Doctor turned on his in helmet lights. "but it's not is it? Its tough" She added.

"I'll see you both later" The Doctor told them.

"Not if we see you first" Rose joked before kissing the glass screen of his helmet. With a smile at her and a handshake off Peter, the Doctor headed into the capsule.

The Ood had all been confined to their pen area with Danny and Jefferson's male guard stood watching.

"You will remain here, no command can override this have you got that? My instructions only" Danny ordered the Ood over a speaker.

In the control room Zachary was readying the computers for the mission.

"Capsule active, counting down in ten nine eight seven," He began counting down as Ida and the Doctor climbed into the capsule before Jefferson shut the door behind them, giving them a salute before walking off. Rose and Peter remained in front of the glass window, giving the Doctor a last smile and wave as Zachary gave the final countdown. "Six five four three two one, release" He called over the speaker before the capsule began traveling down into the large tunnel below. Rose and Peter then traveled over to the screen that was showing the capsule's progress with Rose holding the communicator speaker. Soon the capsule was traveling down past the base's oxygen field."You've gone beyond the oxygen field, your on your own" Zachary said to the Doctor and Ida over the speaker as he too monitored their progress on his own screen. The Doctor and Ida heard this and turned on their oxygen supply that was attached to their belts.

"Don't forget to breath, breathings good" Rose told the Doctor over her own speaker, causing Peter to laugh in amusement as he stood next to her.

"Rose stay off the coms" Zachary told her.

"No chance" Rose replied as the Doctor and Ida listened over the capsule's speaker as the ride became more and more jerky as they traveled further and further down into the planet's core.

In the Ood habitation where the Ood had been sitting down they suddenly stood up of their own accord. They turned to face Danny and the male guard, who readied his gun at them as he turned to Danny. Both of them had no idea on what was going on.

As the capsule reached minus ten miles and point zero an alarm rang out as the whole base shook for a moment.

"Doctor!? Doctor are you all right" Rose called out in concern over her speaker.

"Ida report to me? Doctor?" Zachery also asked over his.

"It's all right we've made it, heading out of the capsule now" The Doctor replied as he and Ida stepped out of it.

"What's it like down there?" Rose asked, her voice coming in through their helmets.

"Hard to tell, some sort of, cave? Cavern? It's massive, could have done with your eyes down here Peter" The Doctor replied.

"Well this should help, gravity globe" Ida said as she produced a medium sized glowing ball which she then threw high up into the air. It hovered in place of where it stopped and brightened it's light intensly so that the Doctor and Ida could see where they were. They were in a huge cavern which had equally big carvings of a horned creature on the wall.

"That's, that's, my god that's beautiful" Ida gasped as she took in the sight.

"Rose? Peter? You can tell Toby, we've found his civilisation" The Doctor said as he saw a towering archway that was guarded by two carved stone fanged beasts.

"Oi Toby sounds like you got plenty of work" Rose jokingly told him.

"Good, good" Toby mumbled from where his was sat down nearby as he kept glancing down at his hands.

"Concentrate now people, keep on the mission" Zachary ordered. "Ida what about the power source?" He then asked.

"We're close, energy signature indicates north north west, are you getting pictures up there?" Ida asked back as she and the Doctor walked towards the archway.

"There's too much interference we're in your hands" Zachary replied.

"Well we've come this far, there's no turning back" Ida said.  
"Oh did you have too? No turning back? That's almost as bad as nothing can possibly go wrong or this is going to be the best Christmas Walford's ever had" The Doctor rambled on.

"Have you finished?" Ida asked him, stopping and turning around to face him.

"Yeah, finished" He replied before carrying on walking as Ida gave a shake of her head before following.

The Ood were still stood staring at Danny and the male guard.

"Captain sir, ther's something happening with the Ood" Danny said over his wrist communicator.  
"What are they doing?" Zachary asked.

"They're staring at me, I've told them to stop but they won't" Danny replied.

"Danny your a big boy I think you can take been stared at" Zachary replied irritably.  
"But the telepathic field sir it's at basic one hundred, I've checked, there isn't any fault, it's defiantly one hundred" Danny said, looking at the screen in shock.

"But that's impossible" Zachary replied. Rose, Peter and Jefferson were all listening to this.

"What's basic one hundred mean?" Peter asked.

"They should be dead" Danny replied.

"Basic one hundred's brain death" Jefferson added.

"Bu they're safe? They're not actually moving?" Zachary asked.

"No sir" Danny confirmed.

"Keep watching them" Zachary ordered. "And you Jefferson? Keep a guard on the Ood" He added.

"Officer at arms" Jefferson then called to the woman guard, who picked up her gun as he picked up his own.  
"You can't fire a gun in here, what if you hit a wall?" Peter asked, sounding shocked.

"Firing stock fifteen, only passes through on organics" Jefferson explained. "What's yours on?" He asked, indicating Peter's gun.  
"Energy based bolts" He replied.  
"Now that would puncture a hole, don't use it" Jefferson told him.

"My gun's my back up, I have other ways of defending myself" Peter replied. Jefferson merely nodded.

"Keep watch guard them" He then ordered the female guard, indicating the line of Ood that had prepared the capsule.  
"Yes sir" She replied.

"Everything all right up there?" The Doctor's voice asked.

"Yeap yeah" Rose quickly replied.

"Not a problem in sight" Peter added.

"It's fine" Zachary added.

"Great" Danny said.

Having traveled through the archway, the Doctor and Ida had come across a huge circular covering in the floor.

"We've fond something, looks like metal, like some sort of seal" The Doctor called as he stood on the edge of it. "I've got a nasty feeling the word might be trapdoor, not a good word trapdoor never met a trapdoor I liked" He added.

"The edge is covered with those symbols" Ida said, shinning her torch on them.  
"Do you think it opens?" Zachary asked.

"That's what trapdoors tend to do" The Doctor replied.

"Trapdoor doesn't do it justice it's massive Zac, about thirty feet in diameter" Ida added.  
"Anyway of opening it?" Zachary asked.

"I don't know I can see any sort of mechanism" Ida replied.  
"I suppose that's the writing it'll tell us what to do, the letters that defy translation" The Doctor guessed.

"Toby did you get anywhere with decoding it?" Zachary asked.

"Toby they need to know that lettering does it make any sort of sense?" Rose asked Toby, who was sat with his arms over his head.

"I know what it says" A voice replied.

"Then tell them" Rose said.

"When did you work that out?" Jefferson asked Toby, sounding slightly annoyed.  
"It doesn't matter," Rose told him before looking back to Toby, who was standing up. "Just tell them" She told him as he moved his arms away from his symbol covered head and turned to look at them with his red eyes.

"These are the words of the beast and he has woken" He said. As one by one Rose, Peter, Jefferson and the female guard saw his state and froze in shock. "He is the heart that beats in the darkness he is the blood that will never cease," The beast said out of Toby's mouth as Jefferson and the female guard aimed their guns at him whilst Peter instinctively stood in front of Rose. "And now he will rise" The beast added menacingly.


	6. Chapter 6

Jefferson had come to the front of everyone.

"Officer you will stand down! Stand down!" He ordered Toby.

"What is it? What's he done?" The Doctor asked. "What's happening? Rose!? Peter!? What's going on!?" He shouted when he got no response.

"Jefferson? Report, report!" Zachary also called when he got no response either.

"Officer Zed you will stand down to be confined immediately!" Jefferson ordered Toby.  
"Mr Jefferson," The beast said, turning him. "Tell me sir did your wife ever forgive you?" It asked as he began slowly walking towards them.

"I don't know what you mean" Jefferson replied, though his face told another story.

"Let me tell you a secret, she never did" The beast told him. Carefully Peter took the speaker off Rose.

"Doctor it's Toby, something's happened to him, something else is channeling through him" He said down the line.

"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked. But Peter didn't respond as the beast looked to him.  
"The wolf with fire behind his eyes who looked for so long then fled to the stars in fear of what he found" It told him. Rose saw Peter pale and draw in a sharp breath as an uncharacteristic hint of fear showed on his face. "Fled from your father's greatness," It continued to taunt..

"Your picking the wrong person to insult" Peter snarled at it.

"Fled from the enemies daughter you think you might like" It told him.  
"Stop it!" Peter ordered, the anger replacing the fear now as his eyes flared up in a silvery glow.

"Fled from the enemy that might not be dead" It added. Peter had no response this time as the fear rushed back through him, plain for everyone to see.

"Officer you stand down and be confined!" Jefferson ordered Toby, still with a slight shake in his voice.  
"Or what?" The beast challenged, now standing right in front of them.

"Or under the constitutions of condition red I am authorised to shoot you" Jefferson replied as readied is gun and aimed it.  
"But how many can you kill?" The beast asked before it's red eyes glowed up as the blackness of the symbols poured off Toby's face and went into each of the Ood standing nearby, who's eyes then glowed red. Toby, free of the voice's influence, crumpled to the ground as Jefferson and the female guard turned their guns to Ood. The Ood in Ood habitation had also fallen under the voice's control.  
"We are the legion of the beast" They said simultaneously.  
"Rose? Peter? What is it? What's wrong with Toby?" The Doctor asked. "I'm going back up" He told Ida when he got no response.

"Report, report, Jefferson? Report, someone report!" Zachary shouted in the frustration of getting no response.

The small line of Ood held out their communication balls.

"The legion shall be many and the legion shall be fury" They said.

"It's the Ood" Peter said quietly into the speaker he was holding.

"Sir we've got contamination in the livestock" Jefferson said into his wrist communicator to Zachary.

"Doctor I don't know what it is but it's like they're possessed" Peter added.

"They won't listen to us" Jefferson added.

Danny and the male guard were stood watching the Ood below.  
"He has woven himself in the fabric of your life since the dawn of time" They said simultaneously before the Ood in habituation began walking towards the stairs leading up to where Danny and the male guard were stood. "Some may call him Havaden some may call him Krop Tor some may call him Satan" The said as they climbed up the stairs. Danny tried to cut off their telepathic filed on the machine whist the male guard went over to the top of the stairs and aimed his gun down at them.

"Captain it's the Ood they're out of control!" Danny said over the speaker before he and the guard were forced to back away from the Ood as they reached them. The main guard readied to shoot the lead Ood but never got his shot as the Ood's communication ball shot out and stuck to the side of his head, sending a fatal electrical pulse through him. Danny saw the guard crumpled to the floor dead before he turned and ran for his life.

Jefferson had his gun up at the Ood too.  
"Back up to the door!" He ordered the others. "Move quickly! To the door!" He called over his shoulder as he backed up whilst the others turned and headed to the door behind them.

Far down below a shudder ran through the ground as the seal began opening.

"Doctor it's opening!" Ida called to the Doctor, who'd headed back toward the capsule.

"We're moving! The whole thing is moving!" Zachary called as the tremor rattled through the base. "The planet's moving!" He realised as the metal shields above opened up. The Doctor had turned back and raced to Ida and the opening seal. The Ood were still heading for Jefferson, Rose, Peter and the female guard.  
"I am the sin and the temptation and the desire, I am the pain and the loss," They were saying.

"Get that door open!" Jefferson ordered the other guard as she struggled with it.

"The gravity field it's going, we're, we're losing orbit! We're going to fall into the black hole!" Zachary realised as he looked up at it.

"I have been imprisoned for eternity but no more" The Ood said to Jefferson, Rose, Peter and the female guard as they cornered them against the door.

"Door sealed door sealed" The computer told them. A strong wind had rushed out of the opened seal, buffeting the Doctor and Ida away slightly.

"The pit is open and I am free!" The beast's voice declared as it cackled with laughter.


End file.
